This Unified Sciences and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) unit challenges students to find ways of developing and maintaining a well-run classroom. The challenge is general enough to apply to many problem-solving situations in mathematics, science, social science, and language arts at any elementary school level (grades 1-8). The…

This Unified Sciences and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) unit challenges students to find a good way to tell many people about a topic/problem (vandalism, playground safety, teaching the metric system). The challenge is general enough to apply to many problem-solving situations in mathematics, science, social science, and language arts…

Promoting changes to improve the design or use of a school's play area is the challenge of this Unified Sciences and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) unit. The challenge is general enough to apply to many problem-solving situations in mathematics, science, social science, and language arts at any elementary school level (grades 1-8). The…

This Unified Sciences and Mathematics for Elementary Schools (USMES) unit challenges students to improve traffic flow at a problem location. The challenge is general enough to apply to many problem-solving situations in mathematics, science, social science, and language arts at any elementary school level (grades 1-8). The Teacher Resource Book…

First steps toward engaging in collaborative action research in the mathematics classroom are vital in establishing quality research projects designed and implemented jointly by classroom teachers and university faculty. This brief paper describes the initial phases of a collaborative research project centered around the incorporation of problem…

As part of Alberta Education's (Canada) broadened assessment initiatives, a sample of 693 Grade 3 students from across the province participated in the Mathematics Performance-based Assessment, 1994. This activity-based assessment, using picture books and manipulatives, was developed by Grade 3 teachers to assess a broad range of skills not easily…

This document is 7th in the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education monograph series. The mathematical performance of (n=250) U.S. 6th-grade students from both private and public schools and (n=425) Chinese 6th-graders from both key and common schools was examined on multiple-choice tasks assessing computation and simple problem solving, and…

In an effort to create a mathematics learning environment in which the social nature of the classroom facilitates conceptual conjecture and justification, a visual representation has been designed that students can manipulate to make demonstrative proofs in the domain of proportional representation. This study explores student use, incorporation,…

This document is intended as a resource and guide to help teachers integrate a problem-centered approach into their curricula. It outlines the typical components of problem-centered mathematics and science activities, and offers practical suggestions, examples, and resources to assist this endeavor. The first section of this document, "What is…

A reading comprehension program was developed and implemented that addressed the needs of sixth-grade students. The program focused on critical thinking skills using a teamwork approach. Each heterogeneous small group used a checklist composed of before, during, and after reading questions and activities. At the conclusion of the 12-week…

A study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the ability to comprehend in reading has no effect on mathematical problem solving ability of seventh grade students. Two seventh grade classes were administered a standardized test of reading comprehension and knowledge of mathematical concepts and application at the beginning of a school year.…

A conference in June 1978 brought together approximately 50 faculty from various American universities to discuss issues related to cognitive process instruction. This book contains the papers from that conference, focusing on recent, innovative approaches to cognitive process instruction and recent research studies on thinking skills that have…

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how drawings can contribute to generating new information when solvers use drawings in solving mathematical problems. For this purpose, two episodes, in which drawings enabled a solver to find ideas useful for his solutions, were qualitatively and closely analyzed, especially focusing on what roles…

Difficulty in comprehending mathematical concepts is a consequence of the system of knowledge acquisition prevailing in schools, and more specifically, of the typical pattern of classroom interaction. In the common task-setting/task-solving pattern, the teacher divides the subject matter into segments. Students are involved interactively in…

Reviews of relevant research on the application of operations research and statistics that appeared prior to 1980 are compared with those appearing in the early 1980s. In summary, both explicit and implicit users of mathematics in educational administration see it as a tool that essentially brings order and generalizability to administrative data.…